League of Nine
The League of Nine is a political alliance occupying the north eastern portion of the world of Ethos. It spans over a thousand miles from Ostarrichi in the west to the island of Wakoku off the continent's eastern coast, and encompasses most of the city-states of note north of the Krinner Mountains. The League is named after both it's nine primary member city-states and the nine wizards who rule them. The League is composed of: * Wakoku, ruled by One Thousand Years in Solitude. * Goguryeo, ruled by Four Whispered Words. * Mesrop, ruled by An-Namrood the Eternal. * Jogliac, ruled by How Few Remain. * Jadwiga, ruled by What Shall Become of Them. * Ruthlan, ruled by Red to the Shoulder. * Ceska, ruled by Fangs Across the Moon. * Urheimat, ruled by Paragon of the Shattered Anvil. * Ostarrichi, ruled by Wake the Riot. Culture The League is a confederation of states with wildly varying cultures within them. However, a few common cultural values exist across the League, many of them in stark contrast to the Alliance of States. The defining aspect of the League is its size. At roughly 70% the size of the Alliance (at the Alliance's peak), many of the League's social and military guidelines are shaped by the realities of being the smaller contender in the War of Nine. The League is nominally meritocratic, with official proclamations declaring prejudices based on gender, sex, social class, or sexual orientation to be strictly illegal. All hands are needed, if the League is to survive. In practice, there is some resistance to this mass liberalization, but the norms of the League states have shifted noticeably by the War's conclusion. All sodomy laws within the League were officially struck down when the Consuls took power at the insistence of Fangs Across the Moon (though not all League states had them to begin with). Queer marriages are legal, though often frowned upon by the League's more traditional citizens. The League also embraces magical experimentation of all kinds, including disciplines historically labelled as Black Magic. Orichalcum is illegal to possess within the League without special dispensation. Not coincidentally, the Circle of Solace is explicitly forbidden from operating within the League. As the League does not possess transportation fast enough to perceive, the League of Nine does not have Time Zones. Government The League of Nine is explicitly autocratic, with each city ruled by a powerful Wizard designated Consul. As the founding Consuls die, they are replaced in their duties, but not titles. Democratic or republican systems have been abolished within the League above the local level. There is no set line of succession, as the Consuls will never die of natural causes; each Consul chooses their line of succession personally. In addition, each League city-state operates with fewer checks on its government's power than those in the Alliance. While each city has its corresponding trade unions and local power brokers, the League lacks the two most influential non-government organizations of the Alliance. The Circle of Solace is excluded from operating within the League by the League's constitution, and its open agents were expelled in 1660. The Church of Baruc is allowed to operate, but is constitutionally forbidden from participating in government actions, at the insistence of Paragon of the Shattered Anvil. Any individual wishing to pursue a government position must renounce employment by the church, and vice-versa.